It is important to first point out that Berkeley, California
is not a large city. It covers about eighteen square miles stretching from the east
side of the San Francisco Bay, up into the hills. The current population is approximately
122 thousand. This is significant because those not familiar with the region might
confuse the entire metropolitan area of the East Bay as one city. Berkeley is
basically a small town. There is no, and never has been, an inner city,
or housing projects in Berkeley. Kamala would have you think otherwise.
Then there is the need to clarify Kamala’s integration narrative
of the Berkeley Unified School District. She leaves out a lot. Berkeley schools
first implemented integration plans in the 1964-1965 school year. (not 1968, as
she claims.) Prior to the schoolyear of 1964, there had been three Junior High
Schools, (grades 7 – 9). Willard Jr High had always been integrated. Garfield
had been predominantly white. And Burbank was mostly black. Burbank was closed, with kids shuffled to
either Willard or Garfield. Stage one integration accomplished. Also of note is
that a vast majority of students were never within walking distance to either
the junior highs or the high school. They were always “bused”, but it was on public
transportation.
Further clarification on an already semi-integrated school
district is that Berkeley High School is the only high school the city has ever
had. It has always been integrated. There are currently eleven elementary
schools in Berkeley. At the time Kamala was a student, there were fifteen. Even
prior to busing, many of these schools were integrated.
If I hear the clip, one more time, of Kamala railing about
the poor little girl who was bused to school, I will scream. She was the
daughter of highly educated parents enrolled in graduate programs at UC
Berkeley. There is no way she would ever have fallen between the cracks and
turned to prostitution and drugs. She would have the American public believe that
she was bused from an area like South Central LA to Hollywood. In reality, it
was less than three miles from what would have been her neighborhood school, Columbus,
(now Rosa Parks), to Thousand Oaks. Although Thousand Oaks, at the time, was a
pricier area of the city, it is not in the “well-to-do Berkeley hills,
overlooking the bay.” (as claimed in many an article.)
As to those houses in the Berkeley Hills, times were
different in the 1950’s and early 60's. Many houses built on the hill were done so on the GI
Bill. These were not wealthy families. New homeowners were often middle-income
and lower middle-income young couples, starting a new life after the war. It
was the cheapest property in town, no stores, no public transportation, and no close
by schools.
The media often refers to Kamala as a strong, independent,
woman. As a strong, independent woman myself, I would consider any comparison to
that political opportunist as an insult. Strong women have no need to mislead,
lie, or use men to get ahead. Strong women speak out against violence even if
it does not fit their narrative. Strong women are honest. Kamala is none of these.
